Carrie's Arsenal
by mmulhollon
Summary: Carrie and Arsenal are being hunted left and right by local law enforcement, SWORD agents and soldiers loyal to Lord Serenity. They have to work together in order to survive till they are safe.


By: Michael Mulhollon

A two story Japanese style cottage stood cornered with a forest on both sides of the cottage and the side of a steep cliff behind the cottage with a stream that ran from the forest, and alongside the road that ran from the cottage and beyond. Arsenal steeped out from the forest alongside of the road with his left hand against a tree as he stared at the cottage. A little girl's voice called out, "Aunty the soup is getting cold!" Carrie replied, "Keep stirring it, I'll be right out!" Arsenal grunted with frustration and when he stepped forward he felt a wave of dizziness and stumbles, but catches himself on a tree as he put both hands under his helmet and removes it as he is breathing heavily and sets the helmet beside the tree and says to himself, "That felt strange." He stood up and continued walking till he reached the front door and he hesitated for a few moments before he raises his fist to knock, but then stops and was about to turn away but then he pulls himself back forward even as he heard cries of excitement going on inside till all of a sudden the door opens and Ryoko was about to run into him till she suddenly stopped and yelps in shock as she stumbles back and punches Arsenal in the nose. Arsenal throws both his hands to his face as he cringed and groans in pain and stumbles back as well as Ryoko stood as if she is ready to fight, but looked shocked when she noticed it was Arsenal. Ryoko (stammered) said, "Arsenal, wha...what are you doing here?" Arsenal groaned as he whipped the blood away from his nose and said, "Carrie." Ryoko stood calmly with her hands on her hips and said firmly, "Arsenal, you can't see her." Arsenal looked at her a little curiously and said, "Why?" Ryoko replied (trying to keep her voice down), "Cause you already caused her enough pain. When you left she kept having nightmares about you coming after her and recently she has just gotten over it! If she sees you she will break down again!" Arsenal was about to speak when Ryoko said, "She even makes the house shake when she is having nightmares and when she screams some of windows shatter!" Arsenal said, "I have changed." Ryoko said (depressingly), "I'm sorry Arsenal but she just moved on and she is living a better life with her niece and nephew around her." Arsenal was about to speak when Carrie called out, "Ryoko, need help with the garbage?" Arsenal stepped back and looked on helplessly as Ryoko replied, "No I'm fine! It's just..." Suddenly she moved to the side as if an invisible force lightly shoved her away and Carrie stood behind her as Ryoko looked a little surprised as Arsenal stood his ground with his shoulders slouched over as Carrie stood before him. Arsenal stammered, "Carrie...I..." Carrie said, "Leave." Arsenal said, "I...want us... to be together again. Like we use to be. I can take care of you." Carrie crossed her arms in front of her and said, "Like you did when you came back from the woods?" Arsenal said, "I have changed." Carrie said, "That doesn't matter. What you did is unforgivable." Arsenal said (in a pleading tone), "Carrie, I know it was wrong. Please..." Carrie said sternly, "Go!" Arsenal extended his hand as he slowly approached her (while Ryoko stood tensed) and said, "Carrie..." Carrie then extended her hand in a stopping motion and she said, "Go!" Arsenal's body tensed as he was pushed back a few inches as his feet dug into the graveled ground and he continued slowly approaching her and said, "Carrie, please..." Carrie looked angered and said, "Stop saying my name!" Arsenal felt intense pressure in his head and heard a screeching sound and he fell to his knees with his hands over his head as he groaned in pain.

Ty and Joey appeared from behind Carrie and looked both at Arsenal and up at Carrie with concerned expressions and Joey said, "Aunt Carrie, what's wrong with uncle Arnie?" Arsenal continued to clasp his hands around his head as he groaned in pain, but tried to keep from crying out, as Joey held on to Carrie's farmer jeans as she looked afraid and Carrie replied firmly, "Don't worry, he's just having a headache." Arsenal then removed his hands from his hand and tried to stand, only to fall on his left side as he groaned and struggled to stand again and began stumbling away while holding onto his stomach. Tenchi appeared behind them with a look of concern and said, "What's going on?" He saw Arsenal and looked shocked while Ryoko and Carrie looked on with firm expressions and Joey and Ty both looked concerned as Ryoko replied, "Nothing to concern yourself Tenchi." They all went back inside as Carrie stayed back for only for a few moments and said to herself, "Decrypted monster." And she went back inside and closed the door behind her.

Arsenal felt a massive wave of nausea and pain spreading from his stomach throughout his body and the pain is so intense that he fell against a tree, from almost where he came from, and he cringed in pain. He tried lifting himself up but for some reason he couldn't and he is sweating profusely. Arsenal said to himself, "What's happening to me?" He suddenly leaned down behind the tree and threw up. When he leaned up against the tree and looked down where he threw up he felt both confused and shocked and said, "No, it can't b..." He threw up again this time painfully and he continued, with stopping intervals as he wheezed in pain, as what he was throwing up drained down the embankment with a mixture of oil, hydraulic fluid and bits of metal pieces till suddenly Arsenal stopped and he fell on his back. Arsenal wheezed and breathed heavily with a painfully expression on his face as he tried to get up, but is only successful of lifting up his head. He groaned in pain and said to himself, "No, Carrie." He cringed as he desperately tried to lift himself up but his suit is unable to move and he dropped his head back down and breathed heavily as he gave up. His vision began to blur as he saw Carrie's face looking down at him as he hallucinated. He smirked up at her image and breathed, "Carrie." There is a sound of a helicopter as he looked behind Carrie to see a twin propped helicopter lowering before him as Carrie's face blurred, followed by the helicopter and Arsenal's vision went black.

Arsenal opened his eyes, only instead of seeing everything in red or seeing a diagnostic or scan report about his condition through his retinal display he is seeing everything in color or human eye sight as he noticed the grey metal ceiling with a light shining down on him. He tries to sit up but instead he felt straps that are holding down his body as he looked down and noticed both his legs, feet, arms, wrists and even his chest and mid-section. A firm female voice said, "He's awake general." Arsenal looked to his left and saw a female army officer standing by the doorway and he looked further to his right to see General Ross standing right beside him. Ross said, "Thank You Lt., that will be all." Arsenal watched as the female army officer left the room as the door slid open and closed and Ross said, "We are unable to remove your suit so we had to drill holes through in order to monitor your vitals." Arsenal rested his head back on the bed as he stared at the ceiling in silence and Ross said, "In case you haven't been keeping up with current events Supreme General Ironside is now the new head of SHIELD since Michael Valkyrie decided to neglect his duties as he was appointed to do. I am now in charge of an organization known as SWORD and my purpose is to deal with extraterrestrial threats like yourself from hurting others that are nothing like you." Arsenal kept silent as Ross lite a cigar and continued, "We have been trying to remove your suit because according to our scientists it enhances your physical abilities by 80 percent and automatically repairs wounds that you have sustained and only you have control to remove your suit." Arsenal still remained silent as Ross puffs his cigar, smirks and says, "The silent treatment, no matter. Even if you don't cooperate we will still tear that suit off and get what we want." Arsenal finally says, "Endgame?" Ross then looks impressed and says, "Now you speak. Anyway I have no personal endgame if that is what you are asking. I've learned my lesson from Bruce Banner, out of all people." Arsenal looks at Ross as he continued, "You have two choices, life imprisonment or we will kill you and tear the suit off from your dead corpse." Arsenal said, "Suit built into me." Ross removes the cigar from his mouth and said, "That's right, I forgot to mention it. Once you were able to stop puking your guts out our doctors and scientists scanned you and found out that most of your robotic functions have been rejected from your body. In essence you were puking oil, hydraulic fluid and bits of pieces of your robotic skeletal structure that are doing more harm to your body than good." Arsenal looked at him with a hint of confusion and Ross said, "Are you noticing now since you are seeing me in full color?" Arsenal replied, "Didn't cross my mind." Ross made a short laugh as he put out what's left of his cigar and said, "Well, it's no matter. Once we finish with you we will be able to find the location of Michael and Chloe Valkyrie based off of your CPU that's surprisingly one of the only few parts of your robotic functions that is not rejected from your body, yet." Ross beckons from the side windows and the door side open and a surgical team entered along with a lone soldier in spec-op gear and Ross said, "Kill him and pry that suit off." The soldier replied, "Yes sir." As the surgical team was preparing two more soldiers entered as Ross stood to the side and the soldier beside Arsenal drew his combat knife next to his head and Arsenal said, "Do you have life insurance?" The soldier looked at him confused and said, "Of course I do." Arsenal said, "Good." Arsenal right arm tore through his restraints with ease and punched the soldier across the face knocking him down to the floor.

Arsenal immediately sat up as the restraints broke apart in the process with ease as another soldier approached him with his machine pistol draw. Arsenal immediately snatched the gun from his grasp in lightening speed and swung it across the soldier's helmet and face forcing the soldier to fly and slam his back up against the far wall before falling onto the floor passed out while the surgical doctors and nurses yelped or screamed in fright as they took cover behind the operating table and trays. Ross immediately pulls out his sidearm, but Arsenal throws the broken rifle at him knocking the sidearm out of Ross's grasp. Ross immediately hit the alarm button on the wall behind him and as the alarm sounded he yelled, "You're dead Arsenal!" Arsenal replied, "Not today, general." Arsenal then grabbed his helmet next to the bed and put it on before more soldiers appeared with their assault rifles drawn. Arsenal immediately pressed a button on his left forearm and a red transparent light fired from his suit and engulfed the room and beyond and in its path the lights and other power systems in the building went out, engulfing the room and hallway into darkness as the soldiers yelled in protest. In the darkness and confusion Arsenal ran towards the window to the outside and smashed through it as Ross ducked behind the soldiers that are now in front of him. Arsenal landed on his feet three stories down onto the pavement, making a dull thud noise and some cracks issued forth from the pavement beneath his feet. He pressed a button on his helmet and the helmet's eyesight lens turned from red to fluorescent green and he saw more black clad soldiers running towards him in the darkness from the series of hangers to his left. A soldier yelled, "Halt!" Ross appeared where the window was with his sidearm and fired at Arsenal, only that the bullets bounced off his armor when he emptied his clip. Arsenal then ran to the high fence as more soldiers chased after him and began firing and either missed him or the bullets bounced off his suit and helmet. When Arsenal reached the fence small thrusters, the size of finger tips, appeared from his boots and when he jumped there was a short, barely audible rocket burst as Arsenal jumped clear over the fence and landed on his feet perfectly before disappearing into the dark forest.

General Ross watched with a grim expression as one of the soldiers behind him approached and said, "General, should we pursue?" Ross holstered his sidearm and replied, "No soldier, we know where he's going. Assemble two platoons of Strikers and overshadow the cottage where Carrie is located. Once he shows his face I want them to capture him before he takes another step."

Arsenal continued running but now at a steady pace even as his scanners within his helmet notified him that the coast is clear. He then heard the sound of vehicles and saw lights ahead and he continued towards it till he was out of the forest and behind a gas station where he stopped running. He looked around and found no one outside but a large trash bin and a 1978 black Firebird Pontiac Trans Am and he scanned the vehicle and confirmed that it is drivable. He cocked his head to the side to the side as he made an agreeable grunt before he broke into the car, merely touching his gloved finger on the keyhole and unlocked the door and the same for the ignition, and drove away from the gas station and onto the road before the cashier came out screaming and cursing.

The power came back on in the base and Ross is sitting behind his desk smoking his cigar while reading paper reports when the female Lt. came in and said, "Sir, you have a call from Supreme General Ironside." Ross looked up and said, "Thank You Lt." She closed the door behind her when she left and Ross pressed a button to secure the phone before answering it and said, "Yes General Ironside." Ironside said, "Status report." Ross said, "Arsenal has escaped, but we are able to retrieve data and analysis on the suit and helmet he is wearing and found that besides protecting now vulnerable body it also increases his strength and abilities two fold and his helmet can change from infer-red, motion sensing, etc." Ironside said, "Acceptable but also disappointing since he escaped from custody." Ross said, "Don't worry general, I have the cottage that Carrie is living in under heavy surveillance and have three platoons of Strikers standing by at that location to surprise and capture him." Ironside said, "For our sake general, you better be right." When the phone clicked singling that Ironside hung up, Ross hung up the phone.

The next morning a black Pontiac Trans Am hid underneath a cover of trees and bushes as Arsenal watched the cottage and saw Ty, Joey, Carrie, Ryoko and Tenchi going into a blue car before they started driving away. In the meantime, up on a high hill to the right of the cottage, Toxicon looked down and watched as the blue car departed and he said, "Remember, they all must be terminated except the one in the Trans Am. I want him alive." A punk with spike blue hair cam up beside him and punched him on the right shoulder, jokingly, and said, "Don't worry man, we know. Just make sure we get what we want." Toxicon replied, "You will." The punk yelped with joy and jumped into a dirt four wheeler truck and hit the hood as the other punks yelped with joy before driving off along with three other vehicles as Toxicon stood where he is with lifeless SHIELD STRIKE soldiers surrounding him and five abandoned vehicles that the STRIKE platoons drove. The blue car drove away from the cottage and passed Arsenal as they didn't notice his presence and continued down the snowy road and landscape till the car turned left and disappeared in the snow covered trees. Arsenal's helmet scanner made a soft beeping noise and pointed to the hill to the left of the cottage and he saw kicked up snow coming down the large hill heading towards Carrie and the others. Arsenal immediately got in the car and drove off from cover and onto the left fork of the road heading to where the kicked up snow is moving. Arsenal floored it as the Trans Am sped ahead and into the snow fogged road as he scanned ahead but sees only kicked up snow and Arsenal grunts in frustration.

Suddenly a vehicle slammed into the left side of the Trans Am and smashed the side window as someone yelled, "YAHOO!" Arsenal looked to his left and saw a steel ball on a metal bat slam against the side of his face and cracked his helmet as Arsenal struggled a little to keep the car on the road when a SUV that pulled in front of him turned onto a separate road on the right and went down and drove away as the snow fog dissipated. A large truck appeared behind and one of the punks threw a spear and it went through the roof of the driver's side of the Trans Am and it struck between Arsenal's legs, just missing his crotch. Arsenal grunted in frustration and swerved away only for a third vehicle to appear and slam against the right side, knocking the Trans Am to the left vehicle as the punks that rode on them began pounding or bashing the Trans Am with baseball bats, 2 by 4's or other blunt objects repeatedly smashing all the side windows of the Trans Am. Arsenal slammed his fist against the right side of his lower leg and a specialized assault rifle appeared, grabbed it and fired out the window to his left (not looking) as the bullets smashed through the vehicle's right passenger side window and door and riddled both the violent punk driver and passenger with bullets sending blood flying inside the cab and the vehicle swerved and hit head-on into a large rock, flipped in the air till it crashed landed upside down. Arsenal pressed down on the gas pedal harder and sped ahead as he looked over his shoulders as the two vehicles swerved behind him as the punks hooted and hollered as they tried to get around him.

The blue car Carrie, Ryoko, Tenchi, Joey and Ty are in drove along the two way road in the snowy woods with Ty listening to music on a tape player while Joey is sleeping next to Carrie as she was looking out the window behind Tenchi as he is driving while Ryoko sat in the front passenger seat holding Tenchi's hand as she smiled at him as Tenchi did the same. Far ahead the improvised SUV swerved onto the road and headed straight towards them at high speed as the punks yelped with joy. Arsenal continued speeding ahead till he reached a road that connected to his on his left and as he looked his scanner scanned the road and indicated the tire tracks came from the blue car Carrie and the others are in and he said, "Carrie." He immediately swerved onto the road as he put his assault rifle away and shifted gears as he drove faster.

Joey said, "Uncle Tenchi would you change the music? This is boring." Tenchi smiled as he looked back and said, "Now look here young lady..." The SUV appeared from the left ahead of them as it headed straight towards them and Ryoko looked up in shock and yelled, "TENCHI LOOKOUT!" Tenchi immediately slammed on the brakes as Joey screamed when a black Pontiac Trans Am leapt in the air from the embankment to the left of the SUV as the punk driver screamed and the Trans Am crushed the driver's side on its right fender and tire before also smashing through the passenger side and crushing/shredding the punk sending blood and bone flying and caking the right side of the Trans Am as the car smashed through and landed on both of its tires onto the road. Unfortunately Arsenal lost control and the Trans Am drove off straight off the road and slammed head-on into a tree and he was thrown forward and smashed through the windshield before flying forward and into a snow bank. The car Carrie and the others was smashed by the SUV on the left driver side and the car flipped over the SUV and landed hard upside down next to a ditch as the SUV spun out of control and the other two vehicles driven by the punks slammed on their brakes as they screamed or hollered in fright, but they spun out of control as well on the icy road and collided with one another and exploded as the back vehicle flipped over and tumbled into the middle of the road and stopped right side up in front of the wrecked SUV.

In the short silence following the wreck, Arsenal rose up slowly from the snow embankment. When he stood up he looked at himself and scanned till his display read that injuries sustained in the head, upper body and lowered extremities are repaired and damage is minimal. He looked back to see some flames on the undercarriage of the blue car and he started walking over till he noticed his left leg failed to move properly and almost fell. He looked down at himself and scanned his left leg again till the scanner read that it is dislocated and could not repair properly till Arsenal punched the side of his knee with his right fist and heard and saw it relocated and his helmet display read, "Knee replaced" And Arsenal looked back at the blue car and continued walking.

The door to Carrie's side was torn off by Arsenal's right hand and was thrown away before Arsenal yanked and tore the seatbelt off of Carrie's unconscious body before he pulled her out and laid her on the opposite side of the road. Ryoko is able to push her broken door out before she fell/stumbled out with blood running down her forehead and lip. She looked up when she heard someone approaching and saw Arsenal standing over her and she said, "Arsenal, what happened?" Arsenal replied, "Later." He pulled the other door open behind her and pulled Ty out before Ryoko got behind him when he walked away and reached in to get Joey only to see, as she was trying to undo Joey's seatbelt, the driver side (where Tenchi is sitting) was crushed into the ground with blood running out from where the head rest was and Tenchi's hand (that Ryoko was holding as they drove) reaching out. Ryoko just stared and said, "Tenchi?" Only silence and Ryoko reached and grabbed Tenchi's hand (ignoring Joey's moans of pain and her reaching to Ryoko). In the meantime Arsenal set Ty down (unconscious) and he looked and noticed Carrie's eyes barely open looking at him. Arsenal started reaching towards her when he heard Ryoko call Tenchi's name and he looked back and saw Tenchi's crushed body and Joey trying to reach out to Ryoko, only for Ryoko to ignore her and concentrated only on Tenchi.

Ryoko continued to hold Tenchi's lifeless hand even as Joey reached out to her with a trickle of blood dripping from the top of her head as she said, "Aunty I can't get out. Please help me aunty. Aunty?" Joey tried to stifle her cries as Ryoko continued to ignore her when suddenly a large shadow loomed over Ryoko when she was yanked back and Ryoko immediately grabbed the door frame with both hands and yelled, "NO! HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD! LET ME GO!" Arsenal continued to pull till she lost her grip and was dragged out from the car before Arsenal entered and noticed Joey is frightened but said, "Uncle Arnie, please help me." And she reached towards him as Arsenal grabbed the buckle of her seatbelt and ripped it apart as he grabbed hold of her and said, "You are okay. I am here." Ryoko suddenly tried punching and kicking his butt to get him out of the way till Arsenal came back out with Joey in his arms as Ryoko looked at him both shock and angered as she ignored the blood running down Joey's head and said, "Can you reach Tenchi? Are you able to get him out?" Arsenal replied, "He is dead. I would be more concerned about Joey. Injury not bad as long as she gets to the hospital." Joey felt the blood on her head as she brought her hand down and saw her own blood and she said, "Uncle Arnie, am I going to be okay?" Arsenal said, "You are fine. Just a scratch." Suddenly an alarm went off inside his helmet and Arsenal looked up to see a T-600 aiming a rifle at him and Arsenal turned his head to the right just as the machine fired and the bullet zipped past Arsenal's head and he yelled, "Run!" And he grabbed Ryoko's wrist and yanked her as he ran before the machine fired at him again repeatedly as a T-500 appeared from being hidden by a large pile of snow with its mini-gun drawn and fired down the middle of the road forcing Arsenal to leap into the ditch with Ryoko flying behind him and landed hard. She grabbed her right arm and groaned in anger before she yelled, "You almost yanked my arm off you idiot!" Arsenal immediately handed Joey to Ryoko as she now started crying and slammed his fist on his right lower leg to draw his automatic rifle and fired at the machines direction, only to have them shoot closer to the ditch as the bullets hit close and Arsenal grunted in anger as he and Ryoko ducked over Ty and Carrie. Arsenal then stood up and walked fast towards the machine's shooting at him as the bullets bounced off his armored suit. He aimed his specialized rifle at the machine firing the rifle and fired continuously as the bullets pierced its robotic body and ripped it to shreds before it fell lifelessly as he ignored the T-500 firing at him repeatedly. Arsenal then aimed at the T-500 and fired relentlessly as the machine continued to shoot at him till some of its cables and various hydraulic lines were cut and the machine began stumbling where it is and lose its aim till Arsenal pressed a secondary trigger behind the primary and an explosion round fired and hit the machine directly at its face blowing its head to pieces before falling into the snow pile lifelessly.

Machine gun bullets hit the pavement around Arsenal as he looked up and saw two M machines in dark green standing behind a snow bank on the hill to his right pointing mini-guns at him. Suddenly Ryoko landed behind the two machines with her orange beam saber out and in one swing she sliced both the machines in half on an angle as she screamed in anger. Arsenal's sensors made an alarm sound indicating to his left and when he looked he saw an armored truck with a SHIELD logo on it with the word STRIKE beneath it as it stopped behind the burning SUV. When the doors open though more T-600's appeared and began firing at Arsenal. In the meantime, Carrie barely opened her eyes and saw a blurred vision of a dark figure shooting to her left and a large explosion came from its back before it stumbled forward, turned and fired an automatic rifle before she passed out again. Arsenal slammed his left fist onto his lower left leg and another special automatic rifle appeared and he grabbed it and fired both his guns at the T-500s behind the flames and blasted the heads of two of them apart as more various machines appeared in snow piled banks on the steep hill side to the right of Arsenal and Ryoko ran, jumped into one position and kicked a T-600 so hard it flew backwards and hit a tree causing it to fall down and crush two M 500s behind a snow bank beneath it. She then cut two T-600s in half and decapitated them simultaneously before she shoved her saber into a T-500's mid-section behind her. A M-700 turned its mini-gun at Ryoko but she moved quickly, zigzagging as it fired at her and she cut its gun arm off before decapitating it. She looked down the hill as she heard machine-gun fire below and saw two more SHIELD STRIKE vehicles parking in the middle of the road behind the other one as a T-500T and one T-800 and various other T and M model machines approaching Arsenal as he fired all around and she high jumped and landed right in the middle of the group of machines before she kicked a T-200 in the face as it stumbled back and she jumped in the air to dodge the machines and terminators shooting at her and missed the bullets as they passed her and struck a T-850 and two T-700s and ripping them apart before they fell. She then shoved her beam saber through a T-850 as she grabbed a T-600 by the gun arm, yanked it as it continued to fire and shot apart a T-500 before the T-600 grabbed her by the shoulder. As she felt the intense pressure of the machine trying to crush her shoulder, she immediately spun around as she swung her saber and cut its head off. She then sliced apart a T-600, 850 and two M-200s before a T-500T pushed through the burning wreckage of one of the punks vehicles and fired both its arms (that are built in mini-guns) at Arsenal, knocking him down, and creating bullet marks on his armored suit.

Ryoko screamed in anger as she ran/jumped and shoved the beam saber through the machine's mid-section and began pulling it out when the machine backhanded her, knocking her to the pavement with blood flying from her mouth. The machine pulled the beam saber from its mid-section and threw it onto the ground before turning towards Arsenal and aiming both his guns when Arsenal pulled out a square like device and pressed a red button on top as he roared with rage as he threw the device behind the T-500T and detonated into the air and began sucking the flaming debris, vehicles and ten machines into the detonation point as the T-500T started sliding backwards as it still walked towards Arsenal when suddenly its feet slipped off the pavement beneath it and flew right into the detonation point as it was sucked in just before the sucking dissipated leaving only the wrecked SUV (that struck the blue car), the blue car Tenchi drove and the black Pontiac Trans Am.

Ryoko got up slowly, dazed, as Joey ran up and hugged her as she yelled, "Aunty!" Ryoko held her as the sound of two more SHIELD vehicles is heard and Arsenal immediately raised both his guns and fired into the windshield of the first one, blasting apart the windshield and the vehicle came to a complete stop as the two machines in the front seats heads and faces were blown apart and more machines started debarking the vehicles. Arsenal fired relentlessly as he roared sending bullets shells flying everywhere as he tore into the machines and the vehicles they drove in even as they fired at him and the bullets bounced off his suit and helmet, but ignoring them till all the machines fell and it is dead quiet. Arsenal turned to Ryoko and said, "Get them to saf..." A loud report of a high powered rifle echoed and the right side of Ryoko's head exploded, sending blood and chunks flying to her right side as Joey jumped back and screamed as Ryoko's right (only) eye rolled up and she fell forward (face down) into the pavement, not moving.

Arsenal immediately looked up the hill as he scanned it and found the sniper M-500 when suddenly Arsenal is shot in the right shoulder as part of his suit is blasted apart as he fell backwards and landed on his butt as he grunted in surprise. Arsenal made an angry grunt as he immediately aimed one of his special automatic rifle's and the barreled and eyesight changed to that of a smaller sniper's rifle and fired a single round that sounded heavy and suddenly the M-500 and the tree it is concealed behind both exploded sending a cloud of snow and light into the air as the top of the tree fell where the machine once stood and Arsenal said, "Fuck you asshole." He then stumbled up and grabbed Joey and tried to pull her away but is unable to as she still clung onto Ryoko's lifeless body as she cried. He pulled her away and carried her over to where Ty and Carrie are as she wailed and flailed in his grasp. His sensors sent out an alarm with an arrow pointing back and when he looked he saw a handful of various M and T model machines appearing from behind the wrecked two SHIELD commandeered vehicles and he immediately ducked into the ditch Ty and Carrie are in and set Joey next to them. As Ty grabbed Joey and tried to comfort her next to Carrie, Arsenal pulls out the same circular grenade and pressed the button on top before throwing it at the machines. The grenade flew through the air till it struck a T-800 directly in the face and detonated causing its head to implode before its body and the other machines surrounding it were sucked in, including the vehicles they arrived in and the shell casings that littered the road from both the machines and Arsenal before it dissipated.

Arsenal scanned the area till his scanner read there are no machines present and then his scanner beeped when he heard the sound of sirens and the scanner readings displayed, "Ambulance, Fire Fighting and Police vehicles approaching." Arsenal turned to Ty as he looked up at Arsenal (holding Joey's face close to his chest as she continued to cry) and Arsenal said, "If they ask, you were in an accident. Nothing else." Ty nodded and Arsenal got up and ran to the Pontiac Trans Am as he held his shoulder and picked up Ryoko's beam saber before getting into the car, started it and immediately backed the Trans Am from the tree and onto the road and sped off with the bottom of the front bumper scrapping against the pavement.

On top of the hill, overlooking the road, Toxicon watched the events unfold and Arsenal driving away before the police and other emergency vehicles arrive before he turned and stepped back and said, "Tenchi and Ryoko are terminated. Arsenal has escaped and Ty, Joey and Carrie are being taken to the hospital as we speak." A voice spoke from the right side of his temple, "Then go to plan B. Go to where they are being taken and make sure Carrie is dead." Toxicon replied, "Yes Lord Serenity." And he walked and entered a black truck before driving off as a voice said, "Two children with minor cuts and bruises and one late 20's female with a severe head trauma and broken left leg on the way to Tyron Memorial Hospital." Another voice said, "Copy AMB 67."

The black Pontiac Trans Am drove down the road as Arsenal listened into the radios of the emergency vehicles (that his helmet tuned in) that arrived at the scene and heard Carrie's condition and where they took her before he turned the wheel and the wrecked Trans Am turned into the next road that turned left. He continued down the road till he saw the hospital and immediately turned down to the side road and followed the back of the hospital till he turned to the left, away from the sight of the main road and parked it. He sat in the car silently as he pressed the left temple of his helmet and the visual in his helmet changed to the security footage inside the hospital and the screens till he saw Carrie (all wired up and IV attached to her and air hose) being pushed by multiple nurses inside a room where a doctor is waiting and closed the drapes as they began working on her. Arsenal watched and silently waited for hours and hours till the nurses left and saw Carrie being pushed away as he saw the doctor approaching a nurse and the audio in Arsenal's helmet came on and he heard the doctor say, "Thank goodness we got her in time. She should be stable but in coma. Check her readings every four hours and keep her under surveillance in case she wakes or further changes." The nurse replied, "Yes doctor. What about her niece and nephew?" The doctor replied, "Minor cuts and bruises. Child Services is here to watch over them till their aunt recovers." The view changed in Arsenal's helmet to show Ty holding Joey tightly in her hospital bed as a older lady sat calmly and looked like she is reading a book. The view then changed to where a nurse's desk sat in a room with two large glass doors and four separate, but see through rooms where one of them Carrie laid with her eyes closed as the monitors showed her readings and Arsenal sat and watched for hours and hours till it was dark and Arsenal, unexpectedly, fell asleep.

There is a loud beeping noise that startled Arsenal and he looked around to see where the noise is coming from when he noticed the video monitor showing Carrie's room, in the corner of his visual display, filled with nurses and a doctor as they tried to resuscitate her. He breathed heavily as the video recording filled his display and on the bottom it showed she is flat lined on her heart monitor. He held onto his seat tightly, ignoring the fact he is crushing the door handle in his grasp, as he heard the nurse yell, "Clear!" Repeatedly as she gave Carrie electric shocks and there were blips on her heat monitor but they immediately went flat lined. After about a dozen tries the nurse stopped and another gave Carrie an adrenaline shot to her heart. Nothing happened and there was a erie silence in the hospital room as Arsenal remained still and held his breath when the doctor in the room finally said, "I'm calling it. Carrie Deborah..." The video monitor suddenly switched off as Arsenal screamed in a furious rage as he slammed his fists into the steering wheel and column and just in the first punch alone he smashed the wheel to pieces and began crushing the console sending pieces of plastic and glass flying inside the car as he smashed the speed dials. He then kicked the driver side door away with ease as he got out and was about to the smash one of the back doors to the hospital when he heard a rough male voice said in his audio, "Is Arsenal in the premises?" Arsenal stopped and stood back as he switched his display to one of the video cameras inside the hospital till he saw General Ross outside the room where Carrie is in with a soldier in body armor standing in front of him and said, "No sir, not yet." Ross grunted with frustration and replied, "Keep looking. We are placing her body in the hospital cemetery and putting Michael Valkyrie's children into protective custody under Child Services and I want a surveillance team on both the cemetery and the children wherever they go in case he shows up." The soldier saluted and replied, "Yes sir!" And he walked off as General Ross stood watching Carrie as she is unplugged and Arsenal breathed heavily with frustration and silently cried as he clinched his fists and there is a sound of stress under the pressure of his suited gloves.

The doctor left Carrie's room after he turned off the heart monitor and walked down the hallway till he reached his office, but before he open the door he looked down both hallways before he opened it and entered revealing a body that lied on the floor that looks exactly like him but with bruise marks on his neck before he closed the door. He touched his right ear and said, "Carrie Deborah is terminated. Both Michael's children are put into Child Services under protective custody and are under surveillance." Serenity replied, "Good Toxicon. Anything on Arsenal?" Toxicon replied, "He's nowhere on the premise." Serenity said, "Then he must have gone into hiding. No matter, report back to The Sanctuary. At this point I can take care of the rest from here." Toxicon (disguised as the doctor) touched his right ear again before he opened the door and left the office.

Outside the hospital cemetery, Arsenal (wearing a long brown trench coat and a wide brimmed hat to cover his face) watched as Carrie's casket was lowered into her grave as a few people (mainly hospital staff that tended to her) watched somberly till she is lowered and they paid their respects before they walked away as two grounds keepers began burying her as Arsenal stood there with his head lowered the whole time, not bearing to look as they threw dirt into Carrie's grave. When they finished he looked up and watched them leave, but as soon as they did Arsenal saw a teenage punk girl entering the cemetery hurriedly and spray painted Carrie's gravestone when suddenly a man yelled, "HEY, GET BACK!" The punk looked up in shock as did Arsenal looked on and saw two soldiers running towards her. She ran away with the soldiers chasing after her and Arsenal stood with a look of confusion under his matted, shoulder length, wild hair and hat before he looked around and saw the coast is clear. He looked down and saw a single red rose peeking out of the short barred fence and he plucked it as he looked at it curiously and at the area where the flower grew as all the plants around it were dead. Arsenal grunted with curiosity and entered the cemetery and walked towards Carrie's grave till he stood right in front of it and he breathed back trying to control his anger when he saw what the punk spray painted under Carrie's name that said, "Devil's Whore" Arsenal clenched his fists but heard a crushing sound and he looked down to seem the stem of the rose being crushed under his right fist and he immediately unclenched his hand. He kneeled in front of her grave stone as he looked somberly and said, "I, love, you." A single tear rolled down his cheek and he touched it and felt the wetness with a look of confusion at first and then looked sad and said, "So this is what it feels like." He set the rose on top of the pile of dirt in front of her grave stone before he looked up and saw the same red spray painted words again left by the teenage girl punk. He reached out and touched the gravestone when suddenly a hand bursted out from the dirt over Carrie's grave and grasped Arsenal's outstretched right wrist.

Arsenal heard a female angry cry coming from down Carrie's grave as Arsenal stifled a cry as he felt intense pain on his wrist and tried to pull free but his hand would not budge from under the hand's grasp. The dirt over where Carrie's head should be started falling away as if something is rising from the ground as Arsenal watched with a cringed expression from the intense pain till suddenly he saw the top of Carrie's head (caked with black dirt) rising from the ground. Arsenal roared in fright as he saw Carrie's forehead and eventually the white of her eyes as she glared at him in anger, still continuing to cry in anger.

Arsenal looked in horror at Carrie as she rose from her grave when suddenly he was thrown back and was stopped when he struck his back and the back of his head against a headstone behind him. He grunted and grumbled in pain as he tried to stand up when he looked and saw Carrie (In light blue pajamas with the hospital logo on the left breast pocket that is barely visible) clawing herself out of the ground cringing in anger as she grunted and finally stumbled up first looking around angrily when she noticed she is in a cemetery and then her expression changed from anger to confusion. Arsenal stood up as he hit his hat against the side of his leg to knock the dirt off before putting it back on as Carrie looked at herself even more confused before looking at Arsenal and said, "Arnie, wha...what's..." Arsenal looked at her with a grim expression and said, "Not dead." Carrie looked at him both confused and shocked and said, "How, how is that possible?" Arsenal replied, "Don't know. May know someone who might help." Carrie looked surprised and said, "Ty, Joey!" Arsenal put his hands up to calm her down and said, "Protective custody under Child Services. SHIELD." Someone in the distance said, "What the hell?" Arsenal and Carrie both looked to see the two soldiers that were chasing the punk teenage girl standing awestruck when one suddenly pulled up a radio and yelled, "Code black, code black!" Carrie threw her right hand up and both the soldiers were thrown back till they slammed their backs up against the side door of an unmarked van. Arsenal said, "Must go." Carrie replied, "No joke." Carrie stumbled a little as she started walking towards where the soldiers were thrown back as they exited the cemetery, but once they did police cars and police men appeared to their right and left with their handguns and shotguns drawn as they used the vehicles for cover. Arsenal said, "New..." Suddenly Carrie screamed angrily as she looked to their left with both her arms out and cracks appeared on the pavement leading to the barricade as the ground shook and all the windows on the police cars, headlights and flashers shattered as the police ducked or fell to the ground covering their ears. Arsenal grunted with frustration as one of the cops to their right yelled, "FIRE!" A modified black .44 magnum appeared on each side of Arsenal's legs and he immediately grabbed them and began shooting rapidly at the police but aiming at the vehicles blowing apart tires, windshields, etc. forcing the police that are taking cover behind them to duck as he fired. Carrie stopped screaming and the police struggled as they tried to kneel back up and aim at Carrie only this time she swung her right hand and the three police cars in front (that formed the barricade) where thrown into the air as they flipped back and smashed into the pavement in front of the hospital. General Ross hurriedly exited the hospital just when the cars flew in the air and a soldier blocked him when one of the cars landed right in front of them upside down as Ross stood in shock.

Carrie raised both her hands and shoved them forward as she grunted angrily and the police (that were retreating from the first barricade) were shoved down hard onto the pavement as they rest (that are under cover behind their vehicles) were shoved back onto the pavement or their car doors slammed into them making them fall while the windows and windshields cracked. Arsenal immediately pulled out two black grenade shaped devices and threw one on each side and white smoke appeared blocking the police's view as Arsenal pulled out a small capsule, pressed a button on top and threw it at the empty parking lot in front of him and Carrie as she looked at him alarmed and said, "What now?" Suddenly there is a loud pop sound and a large, red, rocket shaped vehicle ( that looks like the 1989 bat mobile) right in front of them and Arsenal said, "Get in." The top hatch opened and he and Carrie climbed in when one of the policemen appeared through the smoke, pointed at them and yelled, "There they are!" More policemen appeared as they ran towards the vehicle as the hatch closed when suddenly the car roared to life and a single large flame shot forth from the back of the car forcing the police to stand back. The jet car then drove off from the parking spots and into the parking circle immediately to its right as it approached the parking entrance that had police wooden barricades and two guards waving the vehicle away.

The vehicle kept speeding forward as the police men jumped out of the way when it smashed through the wooden barriers and onto the road. Carrie looked both frightened and shocked as Arsenal drove the vehicle and smashed through the barrier before she began eyeing the console filling with buttons, levers and indicators before Arsenal and said, "Is this yours?" Arsenal replied, "Sort of. The prototype was mostly destroyed. Owner decided on a newer model. I made personal modifications." They heard the sound of sirens and Arsenal turn on the rear view camera and saw five large black military grade SUV's behind them. A large food truck drove across the intersection as they approached and Arsenal said, "Hang on!" Carrie yelped as she clung tightly to Arsenal as he pressed a button and a grappling hook fired from the right side of the car and wrapped around a metal post and Arsenal made a hard right turn and the red large jet car made a sharp turn, just missing the food truck by inches before Arsenal pressed the button again and the cable disconnected as they merged onto the road. The SUV's tire to turn but where late and slammed against the side of the food truck creating a pile up as three SUV's slammed against one another and the food truck.

The red jet car headed to an overpass that curves to the left with a police barricade going across the road and Arsenal pressed a button and the rear exhaust fired a large flame as the engine roared and the car fired two small rockets in the front blowing the concrete barrier and creating a large cloud of dust as the police men ducked on each side as the jet car blew through, turned left to exit the overpass and entered the highway below. The jet car turned from lane to lane as it passed cars and trucks on the highway as Carrie held on to Arsenal tightly as she watched in shock and said, "How did you learn to drive like this?" The only reply was a beeping sound as Arsenal looked down to his left and saw a small radar showing a single yellow dot approaching and Arsenal said, "Time to disappear." They heard the sound of a helicopter approaching and Arsenal pressed a button as they were approaching an overpass and when the police helicopter arrived the side door slide open as General Ross leaned out and they watched as the red jet car went under the overpass, but did not reappear on the other side. Ross looked frustrated and said into his headset, "Get us down there!" The pilot replied, "Sir it's..." Ross yelled, "Now soldier!" The helicopter lowered as the vehicles stopped behind and once it hovered low they saw the underpass (where the jet car entered) is empty. Ross slammed his fist against the back of the copilot's seat and yelled, "Damn!" In the red jet car Arsenal watched them stopped around the overpass with the rear view camera as the red car continued on without flames coming out of the back of the single exhaust. Carrie smirked and said, "I like this." Arsenal said, "Carrier." Carrie looked at him confused and said, "What?" Arsenal said, "Its name." Carrie blushed as she looked down and said silently, "That's nice." The Carrier drove off the highway and turned right onto a two lane road in the woods.

The woods are silent with only the low jet engine noise of the Carrier piercing the silence as the Carrier drove on. Carrie broke the silence in the car when she said, "Where are we going?" Arsenal said, "Safe place." Carrie said, "Where?" Arsenal said, "In..." Suddenly there is a loud sound of a mini-gun and bullets hitting the top and back of the Carrier as the invisible reflective panels blinked repeatedly from the hits as Carrie yelped in fright. A black, stealth, military helicopter flew behind the Carrier as it fired a mini-gun from its underbelly. Arsenal turned the wheel from side to side as the Carrier swerved as the helicopter continued firing and the invisible shield around the Carrier continued to blink from the repeated hits until it gave out and the Carrier became fully visible. The helicopter fired its jet engines on the back sides of its fuselage and flew right in front of the Carrier firing its mini-gun. As Carrie cried in fright Arsenal immediately pressed a button and a shield plating covering formed over the windshields as the Carrier sped head on. Carrie cringed and grunted in anger as she swiped her right hand and the chopper spun up and out of control in the air as the Carrier passed and the chopper regained control and chased after them. It continued firing its mini-gun with tracer rounds hitting behind the Carrier. Arsenal said, "Got this." He pressed a button and a back panel opened and a puck shaped device flew off and hit the bottom of the helo and all the electronics went crazy inside the cockpit and the landing gear came down as the helo landed hard and crushed it's landing gear beneath it before it fell on its side and stripped its rotor blades along the road.

The Carrier turned off the road that connected to a not busy highway and two humvees with sonic wave devices on top appeared behind as well as two stealth helos. Ross learned forward where his head is between the pilot and copilot as he looked forward and said in his headset, "Give it to them!" In the Carrier there is a beeping noise as Arsenal looked at the rear view camera and saw the two hummers with the sonic devices outlined and the word "Warning" appeared and Arsenal looked alert and said, "Cover your ears!" The humvees fired the sonic waves just as Carrie covered her ears and she cringed and cried out in pain as Arsenal leaned forward and cringed as well as he grunted in pain and almost lost control of the Carrier as it hit two cars off the road as the Carrier slammed into their rear side fenders and crashed/rolled on the highway. Carrie yelled over the noise, "Arnie!" Arsenal then took one of his hands off the wheel and tried to grab his helmet as it rolled under the seat. After a few moments of desperately trying to grab it, the helmet rolled onto his hand and he is able to grasp it he put it on as the helmet cut off the noise. Arsenal looked at Carrie and saw she looked like she is on the verge of passing out and he yelled, "HANG ON!" He grabbed onto the lever to his right that indicated the speed and shoved it forward and the main exhaust and four smaller ones at the rear of the Carrier shot flames as the jet engine roared and the Carrier raced ahead forcing the two stealth helicopters to try to catch up, but the Carrier rapidly sped farther and farther ahead. The copilot yelled, "Sir they're getting away!" Ross spoke into his headset, "Block 1 is the roadblock ready?" Out ahead a tanker blocked the road along with two military humbles with .50s on top as two civilian vehicles pulled off to the side of the road and a soldier wearing special ops gear with the word SWORD stenciled on his body armor spoke onto the radio, "Yes sir!" The humvees with the sonic speakers sped up to catch the Carrier as Arsenal swerved left and right around the civilian vehicles around them as his helmet vision displayed the safe route around the civilian vehicles while in the meantime Carrie sat flat back against her seat as she still cringed in pain from the noise even as she has her hands over her ears. When the humvees began falling further and further back the sonic noise began to die and Carrie began to relax a little as she breathed heavily from the pain.

An alarm went off as Arsenal looked at his console and on the small radar it showed a roadblock ahead. Arsenal pulled back the lever and the flames from the exhausts died down as the Carrier slowed down, but then the noise from the sonic speakers began to grow again and Carrie cringed more and said, "Arnie, I can't..." Arsenal immediately pressed two buttons on the sides of the steering wheel and two .30 caliber machine guns appeared from atop the sides of the main jet engine as Arsenal pressed the triggers on his steering wheel and fired as the humvees at the roadblock began firing as well only when Arsenal fired the bullets tore through the undercarriage of the humvees and blew out all their tires before Arsenal pressed the same buttons on the steering wheel and the .30s retracted. A small targeting display turned on to Arsenal's left as he pressed a button on the console and he guided a small joystick to his right till the tanker is targeted and he pressed a button below the joystick as the headlights of the Carrier pulled back and two missiles fired from where they were and they hit the tanker as it exploded into a ball of fire. The headlights reappeared and the Carrier went straight through the flames as SWORD soldiers fried from behind and the two stealth helos flew overhead and the sonic humvees drove past the destroyed barricade. Arsenal pressed a button and the rear lights retracted and black liquid sprayed from nozzle heads and covered the front of the humvees and hit the ground beneath them causing the trucks to zig zag across the road till they slammed into each other causing one to explode while another flipped in the air as they collided into another car before one of the humvees flipped upside down. In one of the stealth helicopters Ross watched the scene before him and yelled, "Damn! Use your guns!" The helo, next to the one Ross is in, flew down and a mini-gun appeared from the side door before the gunner pulled the triggers and sent a stream of bullets hitting the rear of the Carrier. Arsenal pressed a button and two small metal balls fired from the back of the Carrier and struck the side of the helo, where the mini-gun is firing, causing the mini-gun and part of the side of the helo to explode. The helo immediately spun in the air as the pilots lost control as Ross's helo rapidly approached it from behind and Ross ducted and yelled, "Damn!" As the pilot jerked back on the controls and the helo flew over the other helo before it slammed onto the road and tumbled tearing apart its rotors until it came to a full stop.

The side door gunner in Ross's chopper pulled out the mini-gun, but before he could fire Ross yanked him back and said, "Out of the way damnit!" Arsenal then pushed the gear shift forward and the main exhaust ignited and the Carrier sped forward as Ross fired the mini-gun at it. There is a vehicle on the side of the road and a tow truck lowering a ramp and began pulling the car in till it was shot apart by stray bullets from the mini-gun as the tower ducked for cover as the Carrier and the helo sped past. The Carrier then swerved from the traffic and drove off the ramp left, as the bullets from the mini-gun shot past it, and the Carrier smashed through the metal barrier and landed onto the road below making a single bounce on the road before settling down. Ross yelled, "Fire rockets!" The pilot said, "Sir we will be firing on civilians..." Ross grabbed him by the shoulder and yelled, "That's an order soldier!" The helo then fired rockets and blasted the sides of the Carrier, jolting the car side to side as the pavement exploded around it before a stray missile hit and exploded a mobile living home on a pickup and blew a couple of cars off the road. Carrie cringed as she held tightly against Arsenal's side as the Carrier jolted side to side.

Arsenal grunted with frustration as the Carrier kept getting hit side to side even as he tried to swerve away and he said, "That's it." He pressed a button on the wheel and the wheel moved by itself as he pressed a button to his left and the hatch opened and air rushed in as he remove this helmet and looked furious. Ross watched as Arsenal began to climb out and he said, "What the hell is he doing?" Arsenal climbed up to the top of the Carrier and he kneeled, flipped a latch cover and twisted a handle and the panels surrounding it retracted back and what appears to be a .50 caliber machine gun appeared as Arsenal stood behind it, pulled on the side bolt and blue/pink lights lite up around the cracks and outlines of the gun. He then aimed the gun at Ross's helo and fired but instead of bullets it fired bolts of pinkish light at the helo as Arsenal roared in anger forcing Ross to duck back inside the helo as the mini-gun was blown apart and the helo flew crazily in the air to avoid the bolts of light fired at it while at the same time two side machine guns mounted beside the cockpit fired back missing Arsenal and the Carrier repeatedly as the bullets struck behind, over or around the sides of the Carrier. The Carrier struck a car and forced it off the road as the helo fired another missile and a truck exploded and another blew a car off the road as the Carrier swerved left and smashed an 18 wheeler as it drove off and fell on its side on the side of the road.

A large, black truck appeared in front of the Carrier as Arsenal continued to fire on the helo and as Arsenal looked forward he saw the back doors open to reveal three SWORD soldiers pulling out their automatic rifles and aimed at Arsenal before he could slam his left fist against the side of his leg. Suddenly the soldiers were thrown back inside and the truck tipped/flew forward and towards the side of the road before it slammed into the ditch upside down and the top of the truck was crushed in on impact. Arsenal looked down to see Carrie with her hands stretched forward, where the SWORD truck was, before lowering them and looked back at Arsenal as he made a small smirk and made a single nod as he grunted with satisfaction and Carrie made a shy grin before sitting back inside the Carrier. Arsenal then turned back and fired the laser gun at the helo as it continued to fire at him with bullets now bouncing all around him. Suddenly a bolt of light struck one of the side guns causing the copilot to cringe to his left as the glass window to his right cracked and the rear rotor of the helo exploded by another bolt of light. The helo spun out of control and the gun on top of the Carrier retracted as Arsenal immediately jumped down into his seat as a blade from the tail rotor flew right over his head and the hatch closed. The side door gunner held Ross down and covered him as the helo slammed nose first into the road and tumbled as it hit and bounced off other vehicles as the blades shredded on the pavement and struck other vehicles till the whats left of the stealth helicopter stopped right side up. As Arsenal watched on his rear view camera he pressed a button and the reflective invisible panels engaged while at the same time the side door of the helo was kicked out and Ross stepped out with blood trickling down the side of his forehead with his uniform worn and torn and saw the Carrier disappear and Ross sighed disappointingly and said, "Damn." The Carrier turned off the highway as it took and exit to its right and drove down a two lane road that headed deep into the woods.

There is silence in the cab as Arsenal drove till Carrie broke the silence when she said, "Where are we going?" Arsenal replied, "Borrowing a ship to get off planet. Not safe here." Carrie said, "And from there?" Arsenal replied, "The Termina System. Blend in with other people with special abilities." Carrie said, "That's nice." Arsenal turned the Carrier to the left into an open field where a bullet shaped ship with cross fins in the rear sat and the rear ramp opened and the Carrier drove in as the ramp closed behind them. Carrie looked at him puzzled and said, "You are going to fill 3/4's of the ship with this car?" Arsenal replied, "Yes." The Carrier powered down as the hatch opened and both Arsenal and Carrie got out and sat in the two seated cockpit with a bunkbed on the left corner and a hatch to the engine room in the middle of the floor. Arsenal sat and pressed various buttons on the console and Carrie said, "You know how to pilot this thing?" Arsenal replied, "Learn really quick." Carrie sat next to him nervously when all of a sudden a red light blinked on the console and Arsenal looked on the small radar screen and saw multiple objects moving towards them. Carrie said, "Who is that?" Arsenal replied, "The previous owners." The engine started up as Carrie fastened her seatbelt as did Arsenal as they saw black humvees and militarized SUV's pulled right in front of them with the SWORD logos on the side doors as the soldiers and Ross appeared with their guns drawn. The aircraft lifted off the ground and Arsenal turned the wheel to the left and as the aircraft turned Ross yelled, "Open fire!" And he fired his sidearm as the others fired their machine guns and rifles as the aircraft moved away with the bullets bouncing harmlessly off it till suddenly the single jet engine in the back ignited and the aircraft flew away into the clouds. Ross looked furious as he watched it flew away as he and the SWORD soldiers stopped firing. A Lt. appeared behind Ross with a SAT phone and he said, "Sir, General Ironside!" Ross grabbed the phone and said, "Yes sir." Ironside spoke angrily, "I'm taking over! Send out all available STRIKE aircraft in the area and intercept that prototype aircraft that you allowed them to steal!" Ross said, "Yes sir. Do you want them to destroy the X-2?" Ironside yelled, "I don't care! Just bring that aircraft down now General!"

The X-2 flew towards space as Arsenal pressed buttons on the keypad below a small digital map to plot the coordinates to Termina when Carrie said, "How long will it take to get us there?" Arsenal replied, "According to the computer and schematics we will be there instantly." Carrie looked at him surprised and said, "What? How? No ship can travel that fast!" Arsenal said, "This is a prototype for SWORD. They are developing a..." There was a loud bang and the ship shook hard as an alarm went off. Arsenal looked at the scanner and said, "M-2 Interceptors. STRIKE." He pulled the throttle back and the X-2 shot straight up as the M-2's chased after it at high speed and continued firing bolts of light missing or hitting the shields surrounding the X-2. Arsenal turned the wheel hard to the right and flew through a large cloud as Carrie cried out in fright as the M-2's passed right by them firing before angling back to continue pursuit as the X-2 entered space at high speed, pulling away from the M-2's. Carrie breathed heavily as Arsenal glanced at her direction and saw her face is pale and he said, "Do not like flying?" Carrie glared at him and said, "Yes." A blinking green light appeared on the console and Arsenal said, "Here we go." Then there is an increasing beeping noise till Arsenal pulled back the lever to his right and the stars in front of them became lines of white and the X-2 disappeared in a flash before the M-2's could catch up.

The moment the X-2 flew past the white lines (that are the stars in space) as Arsenal and Carrie watched, they saw the view of the planet Termina a split second later as the ship stopped. Carrie looked amazed and said, "That was fast." Arsenal pressed a few buttons and the X-2 began to enter the planet's atmosphere and as Carrie held onto her seat, as the ship shook during entry, she said, "Where are we going?" Arsenal replied, "North. Forested region." The X-2 burned through the atmosphere in the night sky and it slowed down in the snowy, forested landscape before setting down in a small clearing in the middle of the forest with a dirt/snowed road leading out. The cargo ramp came down and Arsenal walked out with Carrie following right behind him.

Arsenal scanned the entire area and his readout said, "0.00 percent lifeform presence." Carrie held herself tightly around a wool coat and said, "Are we safe?" Arsenal replied, "Yes." Carrie looked around as she shivered from the cold till she suddenly stood still and gazed into the forest and said, "Are you sure?" Arsenal noticed her concern and he scanned the forest again but changed the settings in the scanner inside his helmet to "Various" and there is a beeping sound as scanner detected a dozen active transmission antennas and Arsenal said, "No." He immediately shoved his right hand into the snow beside him and there is a loud crunch sound and black liquid spurted out before Arsenal pulled his hand up as he grasped something and yanked it up to reveal a T-850 in snow gear and Arsenal threw it to the side. Eleven more various machines rose from the snow at the edge of the forest or in front of Arsenal and Carrie and raised their weapons. Carrie raised both of her hands and two trees tore from the ground and she waved her hands down smashing five machines beneath them and she waved her hands away and the trees flew to the sides and smashed four machines to pieces or crushed against other trees. Arsenal immediately slammed his right fist to the side of his leg and a shotgun appeared and as two M-700s approached he fired the shotgun repeatedly as he walked towards them and blew apart chunks of their metal body till they fell with oil and hydraulic fluid pouring out of them. As one of them wavered on the ground Arsenal stepped up and was about to crush its robotic head till suddenly the head crushed itself onto the black colored snow. Arsenal looked puzzled and looked up at Carrie and saw her left hand open and her palm pointed down as Carrie stared at it and then up at him and said, "Can we go now?" Arsenal said, "Yes." They walked back to the X-2 where the Carrier appeared from the ramp and Arsenal pressed a button on top of a capsule before throwing it at the Carrier and the vehicle vanished leaving the capsule behind as Arsenal picked it up. Carrie looked at him puzzled but before she could say anything Arsenal said, "Too conspicuous." He threw another capsule onto the ground and a beat up pickup truck appeared and Arsenal and Carrie got in before they drove off to the edge of the forest and Arsenal stopped the truck. Carrie looked at him with concern and said, "Why did we stop?" Arsenal pulled out a small device that had a single button on top and Arsenal pressed it and the X-2 exploded behind them leaving rubble and a half blown hull sitting in the snow burning furiously and Arsenal said, "Cover tracks." And they drove off into the forest.

A beat up blue pickup truck pulled up next to a pump at a gas station outside of a small town in the woods. Carrie looked at the gas prices and said, "How are we going to pay and get food?" Arsenal (wearing his helmet) scanned around, inside and at the back of the gas station and through his vision he saw a few teenagers with an adult making a drug/cash exchange. He removed his helmet and gave it to Carrie and said, "Don't worry. Enjoy the snow." He exited the truck and walked to the other side of the gas station. In the meantime, Carrie rolled down the window and stuck her hand out feeling the falling snow as she smiled and twirled her hand and made the snow twirl over her hand. Arsenal walked briskly towards the back and a lookout stepped out with his hand out to stop him, but before he spoke Arsenal punched him in the stomach and hit the side of his side on the back of the lookout's neck knocking him out as he kept walking undisturbed.

As Arsenal came around the corner he saw them exchanging the pot and money, but a girl next to them saw Arsenal and she yelled, "Hey!" They all turned to see Arsenal walking upon them and one kid pulled a handgun from his coat pocket but Arsenal snatched it from his hand and crushed it (making six popping noises as the bullets inside fired) and dropped it onto the ground as the teenagers looked in shock as the handgun now looked like a crumpled piece of paper. When the teenager (that pulled the gun) looked back up Arsenal open palmed hit him in the face when another teenage boy pulled out a switchblade and stabbed Arsenal in the gut only it did not stop Arsenal from backhanding him and ended up knocking out both teenage boys. The girl jumped onto Arsenal's back and tried to choke him only Arsenal looked over at her with a confused expression as the girl then looked at him with bewilderment before Arsenal grabbed her wrist and flipped her over high and far in the air till she landed on her back, buried in a snow pile as she groaned with dizziness. In the meantime the dealer ran to his muscle car and tried to start the engine repeatedly, but to no avail when suddenly Arsenal smashed his fist through the driver side window, grabbed him by the collar and tore him out and held him high by the collar with both hands, leaving scared dealer dangling his feet in the air as Arsenal glared at his shocked/scared face. The dealer raised his hands and said, "Okay, okay copper, you got me!" Arsenal said, "Not a cop. Where's the money?" The dealer pulled out a clump of paper money from his pocket and said, "Here!" Arsenal grabbed them in one hand and put them in his pocket and said, "Pot." The dealer pointed at his car and said, "In the trunk! Please don't..." Arsenal threw him against the car knocking the back of his head on the door frame and knocked himself out. Arsenal pulled the drugs from the other kid's pockets before he went to the car and broke the lock of the trunk as he pulled the top up and the pieces of the lock fell onto the ground and inside the trunk there is only a backpack and he opened it and found it filled with white balloons. He set the backpack and the drugs he pulled from the kid's and dealer's pockets on the ground and noticed one of the teenage girl's watching him in fear. Arsenal pointed to her and said, "Drugs bad." And he lite a match and set a matchbook on fire before dropping it into the backpack causing it to burn as he walked away and the balloons inside the backpack made a popping sound and blew the white powder in the air only to be incinerated by the flames.

The pickup truck drove away leaving the gas tenant scratching his head as he flipped through various bills of cash while Carrie rummaged through the plastic bags as Arsenal drove and said, "Beef jerky, sandwiches and water?" She looked at him with a weird expression and Arsenal said, "All I can do." Carrie sighed and said, "You're right." Arsenal drove further down the road till they just entered a small town with a hotel just in the town limits and pulled into the small parking lot beside it. They both left the truck and started walking inside till Arsenal saw more people huddled next to a car down an alley across the street making another drug deal he believed. He gave the rest of the money to Carrie and said, "Get room for tonight. Going to get more money." Carrie looked where Arsenal is looking and looked concerned and said, "Be careful." Arsenal replied, "I will." He started walking over as some of the teenagers took notice and one of them said, "Who does he think he is, Iron Man?" And they laughed as Arsenal approached and a large muscular man stood in his way and stared down at him and said, "Turn around bu..." As Arsenal approached him he immediately punched the strongman in the groin and when he bent over yelping in pain Arsenal hit him in the throat and he fell back grasping his throat as he gasped for air as Arsenal continued to walk by him.

An older teenager pulled out a switchblade and thrusted at Arsenal's ribs only for his hand to be grabbed in mid motion and Arsenal twisted it with ease making a snapping noise but before the teenager cried out in pain he was head butted in the face and knocked out. The dealer pulled a hand gun out and Arsenal smacked it out of his hand as the gun clattered onto the pavement and Arsenal grabbed him by the collar and slammed his head against the dumpster, knocking him out as well. Arsenal looked at the gawking four teenagers and said, "Drugs on the ground and leave." The kids dropped three white balloons of heroine before running off and Arsenal picked them up before opening the passenger side door. He opened the glove box and saw a couple more white balloons mixed with three rolls that have the number "50" on them and Arsenal took the rolls of money and threw in the rest of the balloons before he pulled out a match from his suit's pulled out pocket, lit it and dropped it into the glove box setting it on fire before he closed the glove box and let it burn inside. Arsenal then scrounged through the pockets of the knocked out dealer and one of his bodyguards before the one he hit earlier stood up and said (with an angry expression), "Boy you better..." Arsenal opened his left hand and extended his gloved fingers towards the strongman before five taser wires shot out from his finger tips and latched onto the strongman's body and tazed him as Arsenal continued to look through his comrades pockets till the strongman crumpled onto the pavement. When the taser wires retracted Arsenal went through the strongman's paralyzed body and scrounged through his pockets as well and when he finished he flipped through a handful of 20, 10 and 5 dollar bills before pocketing them and the strongman said (as he groaned in pain), "You're not going..." Arsenal kicked him in the face and knocked him unconscious before lifting each of their bodies and dumped them into the dumpster before closing the top.

Carrie approached him as he dumped the bodies into the dumpster and she said, "I have the room key. Are they still alive?" Arsenal replied, "Yes. Need clothes to blend in." He showed her the money he pulled from their pockets and she smirked and said, "I don't think that is going to be a problem." Carrie opened the door to their hotel room and she said, "I'll find some clothes you can wear if that is all right?" Arsenal replied, "Yes. I will take shower and cut hair to change appearance." Carrie smirked as she left and closed the door behind her.

Carrie came back with two large bags of various clothes and opened the door as she struggled with the clothes and closed it behind her. Arsenal said, "Need help?" Carrie turned and said, "No, I'm f..." Carrie noticed Arsenal was standing stark naked and she looked shocked and blushed as she turned around with her back towards him and Arsenal said innocently, "Is something wrong?" Carrie hesitated and then said, "Ahhhh...your not wearing anything." Arsenal replied, "Need clothes." Carrie looked squeamish and said, "Try them on now. I picked ones that can stretch as I don't know your exact size." After a few minutes, as she stood with her back still towards him, she felt the light touch of his hand on her right shoulder and she looked behind to see his short haircut and wearing a red and black stretched athletic shirt and pants and he said, "Better?" Carrie smirked and said, "Much better." Arsenal said, "Must sleep. You can sleep on the bed. I will sleep on the chair." Carrie touched his arm as he was about to turn away and said, "Please sleep with me." He looked back at her and she said, "I got the single bed for both of us." She smiled shyly at him and he managed to smirk and said, "Yes." And they both laid in bed with Arsenal lying on his back while Carrie laid comfortably on top of him and wrapped her arms around his chest as they slept.

The next day they drove past the small town and they both held each other's hands and smiled at one another when they are through when all of a sudden they heard a sound of a police car behind them and Arsenal pulled resuming his blank expression on his face. Carrie noticed his tensed hands and forearms and she touched the top of his hand holding her other hand and said, "Relax, lets hear what he has to say." The police officer approached as Arsenal rolled down the window and asked for Arsenal's driver's license and registration. Arsenal gave him the ID and registration paper to him as the officer looked through them and said, "New here?" Arsenal replied, "Yes." The officer said, "Up here you need chains or snow tires. It's against the law here to drive without either chains or snow tires under these conditions." The officer is writing in his pad as Arsenal tightened his right fist on the steering wheel and Carrie laid her hand on top of his calmly and she said, "We're sorry officer. We are new here and we actually haven't seen snow till we got here." The officer looked at them for a few moments and said, "I'll give you a warning, but pull in the nearest gas station and get some chains or else next time you will get a ticket." Carrie smiled at him and said, "Thank You officer." The officer gave them a slip of paper and returned their ID's and registration paper before walking back to his car and Carrie said, "See, no problem." Once the police officer drove away they drove to the gas station about a mile away and Arsenal bought the chains and attached them to the tires while Carrie went inside and bought sandwiches and water before she walked back to the truck with the cashier looking at her and Arsenal curiously before they drove off and when they their images appeared under wanted posters on the tv over the cash counter and when the cashier saw it he looked shocked and began rapidly dialing on his phone. As they left the gas station Carrie ate a couple of sandwiches and drank a bottle of water before she fell asleep as Arsenal continued driving.

Carrie awoke and noticed Arsenal is still driving and the sun is out as outside there is very little or no snow. Carrie said (tiredly), "Where are we?" Arsenal replied, "100 miles east of New City. How did you sleep?" Carrie stretched in her seat as she yawned and said, "Good." She looked at him worriedly and said, "Are you tired?" Arsenal replied, "Not yet." Then they heard the sound of a police siren closing fast and saw a police car driving up fast right behind and tailed them. Carrie looked back fearful, but Arsenal looked at her and said, "Relax." He pulled the truck over and two cops came out with their guns drawn and one of the officers said, "Arsenal and Carrie, put both your hands out of the vehicle! NOW!" Arsenal grunted with frustration and Carrie looked back as she remembered and saw Arsenal's suit right behind his seat and she gasped, "Your suit!" Another police car pulled in front of them and behind the other car as Carrie and Arsenal raised both their hands out of their windows. The same police officer yelled, "Open your doors and exit the vehicle!" Carrie looked at Arsenal (fearful) and said, "Don't leave me!" Arsenal replied calmly, "I won't." The police in the front drew their guns as they took cover behind their vehicle as two more officers appeared from the vehicle behind them and came up to their doors with their guns pointed right at their faces and one of the officers said, "Out of the truck now!" Arsenal said, "Do as they say." Carrie is shaking with fear as she opened her door as Arsenal did and before Carrie knew it she was yanked from the car and they slammed her chest against the side of the truck as they handcuffed her. When the officer yanked the door open on Arsenal's side as another officer tried to yank him out he would not budge under the officer's strength, but he stepped out calmly and turned his back to them with his hands behind his back. The officers at first looked at him with fear as he stepped out and willingly turned around with his hands behind him before they came to their senses and quickly handcuffed him. Arsenal said, "I must ride with Carrie." The officer said angrily right behind him, "Hey! We decide what to do with you and you are both going in separate cars!" Two officers read them their rights as Arsenal is taken to the forward police car while Carrie is taken to the one on the back. Carrie struggled under their grasp as she looked back with fear and said, "Arnie don't leave me!" Arsenal said, "Same destination! Stay calm!" The officer pushing him forward yelled, "No you're not!" Arsenal stopped and the two officers struggled to push and pull him forward and Arsenal said, "Must stay with her. To dangerous..." He was suddenly tazed directly in the back and he fell to his knees and groaned loudly in pain.

Carrie looked back with horror as she saw Arsenal being tazed and being dragged forward and Carrie's pupils dilated as she glared at the officers in anger and she yelled, "NO!" The two officers that were pulling/pushing her were thrown back as one of them is thrown into the highway and a 18 wheeler slammed into the screaming officer creating a large red spot on the truck's grill as his head exploded like a water balloon and his body is crushed beneath the 18 wheels of the high speed 18 wheeler. Carrie started walking towards Arsenal as if in a trance when the officer she forced back fired a taser directly at her. Carrie continued forward as the taser tags changed direction and tazed the officer, forcing him to the ground and shakes uncontrollably. One of the two officer behind her pointed their side arms at her and one of them fired as Carrie snapped her head over her left shoulder to look back and the bullet stopped in mid air and the officer and his partner watched in horror while in the meantime the other officers were trying to get Arsenal inside their squad car. The bullet dropped to the ground and both officer were thrown back with one into the ditch while the other slammed his back against the windshield before falling onto the ground. The other officer that was pushing her earlier kneeled and raised his sidearm at her as she turned his direction and Carrie threw her right hand forward and he was thrown and slammed his back onto the side pavement and Carrie threw her left hand up and the police car behind Arsenal's truck was flipped backwards and slammed on top of the police car behind it. The officer in the ditch got up and pointed his gun at her but Carrie swung her left hand and the officer flew in the air and slammed into a wire fence and on the ground before Carrie pumped her left arm back and the officer is rolled up in the fence and is pinned as he struggled to get free.

Carrie heard a dull thump followed by the sound of shuffling feet as she turned back and saw the police officers, that were trying to put Arsenal in their squad car, dropped Arsenal onto the ground and tried to pull out their sidearms. They aimed their sidearms at her and one of the officers yelled, "STOP OR WE'LL SHOOT!" She started walking forward, ignoring them, and the officers started shooting but the bullets changed direction when they were within one foot of her as if the bullets struck an invisible shield and struck in various directions as Carrie continued walking towards the police officers. She then shoved both hands forward, as if grasping something, and both officers were thrown back and Carrie lifted her hands up and the officers were pulled up from the ground and dangled in the air as they grasped their throats and began making choking sounds before Carrie threw both her hands to her right and the officers were thrown to the left with one bouncing off hard from the side of a tree and laid unconscious while another hit the wire fence and became tangled as he struggled in the mesh.

Arsenal struggled to stand as he place his left hand against the side of the squad car and stood up as he groaned in pain and looked at the scene around him and Carrie, including the stopped 18 wheeler that struck the officer and slowed down traffic, and he looked at Carrie with concern as her pupils returned to normal and she stumbled and was about to fall. Arsenal ran to her side when she fell and caught her and as he kneeled she looked up at him with a worried expression and touched his face with her left hand and said, "Arnie, are you alright?" Arsenal made a single nod and grunted in acknowledgment before Carrie's vision began to blur and she passed out.

Carrie groaned as she opened her eyes and saw a ceiling fan above her before her eyes suddenly opened wide and she tried to sit up when Arsenal's hand fell on her chest and he said, "Relax. We're safe." She looked around, alert, and notice they are in a hotel room. Carrie laid back down as she started to calm and said, "What happened?" Arsenal replied, "Passed out. Changed vehicles and rented room for the night." Carrie looked at him concerned and said, "Won't they all know our faces?" Arsenal replied, "Yours, but not mine." She still looked concerned as he dabbed a wet towel upon her forehead and cheeks and she said, "What's for dinner?" Arsenal replied, "A surprise." And they both smiled at each other.

The next day Arsenal drove a red two person car as Carrie sat back and looks out her side window silently. Arsenal said, "You remember yesterday?" Carrie replied somberly, "Yes." Arsenal said, "Fighting for survival. Not your fault." Carrie said, "I know. I understand now, ever since I...woke up." There is the sound of multiple car horns and Carrie looked forward to see many vehicles turning left or right and saw a man wearing a hoody to conceal his face as he stood there with his shoulders hunched over and arms down. Carrie looked concerned and said, "What..." The hooded figure extended his right hand straight to their car and the car suddenly stopped in motion as Arsenal held onto his seat and steering wheel while Carrie immediately had her hands up on the dashboard to keep her from hitting her face. Arsenal said, "He has powers. Can't move, literally." Carrie looked at him both shocked and fearful and said, "Why not?" A voice said, "Because his spine and head are mechanical." She looked forward and saw the hooded man removed his hood to show his face and noticed he had very bright blue eyes. Carrie exited the car slowly as she stood behind the door and the man smiled at her and said, "I control anything that is mechanical or run by electricity." Carrie stepped away from the car and said, "Who are you? What do you want from us?" He said, "I had a name once, but people always call me Hacker instead of my real name, so I decided to take on that name and became exactly what they wanted to believe." A policeman suddenly appeared behind him with a taser raised and pointed at his back and he said, "Hands up!" Hacker said, "I'm afraid not." The police officer pulled the trigger but instead of the taser tags firing out of the gun the tags remained in and the electricity fired in his hands and the officer fell to the ground convulsing as he is being tazed.

The taser gun suddenly flew from the officer's grasp and onto the pavement as the officer stopped convulsing and laid unconscious on the pavement. Hacker looked at the taser in wonder before looking back at Carrie and smiled and said, "So you have powers after all. Lets see what happens when I..." Suddenly Carrie raised her right hand and Hacker was throttled back and slammed on the tailgate of a SUV. Hacker grunted in pain and he yelled in anger, "You shit!" The pickup next to him went full reverse and went straight at Carrie but she extended both hands and the truck slammed into an invisible force field before she raised her hands and the truck lifted off the ground and she waved her hands to the right and the truck flew and smashed/tumbled along the road or against other vehicles. Hacker raised his left hand to two cars and swung at her and the two cars turned to face her and drove full speed till Carrie extended both hands and the cars stopped with their tires still spinning and she flipped both her hands over her shoulders and the cars flew over her and slammed onto the ground till all of a sudden two cables, from a nearby telephone pole were torn off and wrapped around her neck lifting her off her feet as she tried to pull them off as she began choking and the two ends of the cables (that are sending sparks into the air) faced her as she looked at them with fear. Hacker laughed and said, "Time to die freak!" Carrie struggled as the ends of the cables closed in on her as Hacker smiled when suddenly he saw Arsenal roaring with rage as he tackled him from the front and slammed him back against the same SUV, caving in the tailgate and smashing the rear window with the back of his head. The cable went limp and left her go as they and Carrie fell but she suddenly stopped as she extended her hand down and she levitated for a few moments till she landed on her feet and breathed with a sigh of relief. Arsenal grabbed Hacker and threw him and he hit the pavement hard and tumbled till he laid face down. Arsenal began to move towards him when Hacker raised his right hand and the car next to Arsenal moved suddenly but he caught it with his left hand. The car sped faster in place and burned rubber as the tires squealed, but Arsenal stood his ground while the back door that is against his left hand started to cave in as smoke spewed from the burning rubber. Hacker looked up at him angrily as he stood and said, "How about this!" He raised his left hand and the cables that laid around Carrie rose up again and fired bolts of electricity from their torn ends and Carrie suddenly raised both her hands and the bolts struck the invisible shield surrounding her as more cables were torn from nearby telephone poles and from the ground and either shot blue, white or yellow bolts of electricity onto the shield or tried to grab her but bounced off the shield.

Arsenal roared with rage and ran after Hacker but suddenly the taser that laid on the ground lifted up and fired at Arsenal stinging him with the taser tags and began to convulse as he fell forward onto the road and rolled to his side as the intensity of the tazzing increased and his clothes were partially burnt to reveal his black and lighted red suit beneath it. Hacker laughed and said, "You're both weak! The modern world is run by machines and electricity! Brute force and magic tricks are no match to me!" As Carrie continued to hold the cables and bolts of electricity at bay Arsenal struggled to pull the taser tags from his body as he shakes uncontrollably till his body suddenly went ridged as Hacker extended his right hand at him and said, "Robotic spine and skull. I wonder what they look like beneath that skin and tissue." Arsenal then felt his spine begin to pull back as he felt a tremendous headache as his head began to pull back and he screamed in pain as Hacker laughed till suddenly Hacker's eyes were wide open and he looked in shock as he began to make choking sounds and he tried to grab to whatever is choking him only there was nothing as he looked towards Carrie and saw her eyes are fully dilated and she extended her right hand at him and is grasping at thin air towards his throat. Arsenal then went limp and he began to stand slowly as he groaned in pain as some of the cables surrounding Carrie fell to the ground. Carrie said, "Time to taste your own medicine whiz boy." She then moved her left hand from over her left side (holding her invisible shield up) to in front of her and the cables, that were firing electrical bolts at her, turned at Hacker's direction and flew towards him when Hacker extended both hands and the cables stopped and began firing bolts at him, but they ended up striking an invisible shield in front of him. The electricity that is hitting on Hacker's invisible shield began shooting back towards Carrie and she extended both her hands and blocked the incoming electrical storm at her. They both cringed and grunted as they struggled to shock each other while the space between them is engulfed with white, blue and yellow electrical bolts as they danced about in the air. Hacker cringed in anger as he continued to struggle against Carrie's wrath and he yelled, "You...cannot...defeat...me!" Carrie cringed and groaned as she struggled against Hacker and said, "I...already...have!" Suddenly she screamed in fury as she shoved both her hands forward and the bolts of electricity are thrown back as her shield extended greatly towards Hacker and the electrical bolts pierced through his invisible shield and struck him. He screamed in both pain and anger as he lighted blue and he is thrown back in the air and tangled with the telephone cables between two poles when he struck them and as he continued to scream, but louder, his skeleton began to show through the light blue light covering his body when suddenly he exploded into light and disappeared into a large cloud of smoke before the dangling cables fell.

Arsenal kneeled as he rested his hand against the side of a car as he looked where Hacker was vaporized when he heard a shuffling of feet behind him. He looked back and saw Carrie stumbled right behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder and said, "Are you okay?" Arsenal grunted as he stood and replied, "Been through worse." He looked behind her and saw pedestrians standing around behind and to Carrie's left as they watched Arsenal and Carrie either shocked or fearful when many police officers and sheriff deputies forced their way through, drew their weapons and aimed at Arsenal and Carrie when a large white haired man in a sheriff's uniform appeared with his sidearm draw and he yelled, "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Arsenal said, "Don't have time for this." He quickly put his left hand against the left rib of his suit and red lights appeared where his hand is placed and he twisted his hand and he and Carrie dematerialized in a red glow and vanished before the shocked crowd and police. At the cables where Hacker was tangled and vaporized there were a series of smalls sparks following down the cables from telephone pole to telephone pole in the direction Arsenal and Carrie were driving before they were interrupted by The Hacker.

Behind a diner there is a red glow as Arsenal and Carrie rematerialized and Arsenal stumbled till Carrie caught his left arm and held him steady. Arsenal stood up and said, "Okay, you?" Carrie replied, "Fine. You need a new pair of clothes." Arsenal pulled out a capsule from his pocket, pressed it and there was a pop as he is surrounded by smoke. When it dissipated he is wearing a new set of clothes and he said, "Better." He looked at the diner and said, "Hungry. Very hungry." Carrie smiled and said, "I know you might say that." They both walked towards the diner and entered to see people are eating or talking to one another and did not look up to see them. Carrie and Arsenal approached the bar table and sat in the stools in front of them and ordered food to eat, all the while everyone continued to mind their own business as Arsenal and Carrie ate silently. Carrie was finishing eat when a male voice said, "It's interesting that with all your abilities you are able to control yourself and not harm anyone close to you." Carrie looked wide eyed and around the diner to see who was talking as she saw Arsenal looking at her and she said, "Did you hear him?" Arsenal just stared at her and said, "No. No one was talking to you, or us." The voice said, "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. Only you can hear me. I'm telepathic. My name is Charles Xavier and I am the head of a school of gifted people like ourselves." Carrie said (In her mind), "I'm sorry, but I don't get along well in a school environment." Xavier said, "You don't have to be afraid. This school is not like any other and you will be amongst friends, even those that have the same abilities as you do." Then there is a sound of a jet that is approaching as the people in the diner looked out the windows in confusion as well as Arsenal as he looked over his shoulder and Xavier said, "I have sent a jet to pick you and your companion up if you don't mind." Carrie stood up and looked outside the window as she saw an SR-71 Blackbird flying over the large parking lot between the diner and a closed down superstore before its wheels came down and landed as she and everyone else in the diner looked in shock or awe while Arsenal tilted his head and looked in curiosity.

On the left side of the aircraft's fuelsolodge, a door opened and a short set of stairs came down and a young woman, wearing a black and grey suit and flowing red shoulder length hair, appeared at the entrance and looked around the diner till she looked straight at Carrie and smiled. Carrie looked at her nervously and took a step back towards Arsenal when she heard a soft female voice said (in her head), "Don't be afraid, we are friends. You and your friend will be safe with us." Carrie looked a little relieved and she turned to Arsenal and said, "I think I found a place where we can be safe." Arsenal looked at her and the young lady standing at the entrance to the aircraft and back at Carrie and he nodded and said, "Trust them?" Carrie looked back at the young lady as she smiled at them and said (in Carrie's mind), "Please, come." Carrie smirked and said, "Yes, I do." Arsenal stood up and placed the money on the table before turning to Carrie and said, "Then I do as well." They both walked outside as the people in the diner looked at them in shock as they approached the aircraft and Carrie climbed up the short steps with the young woman reaching out to take her hand and the young lady said, "My name is Jean Grey, what's yours?"


End file.
